Cognitive changes in kids
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Children aged about four suddenly become capable of recognising that an object can be described differently depending on how it is viewed.
This apparently simple skill requires cognitive changes that are not far enough advanced until then. A project carried out by the Department of Psychology at the University of Salzburg with support from the Austrian Science Fund FWF reached this finding.
The research could also contribute to an improved understanding of developmental disorders such as autism and attention impairment.
Children aged under four are good at classifying objects, meaning that they can cope with a complex world. They effortlessly sort objects such as red apples by colour or shape. However once it has been described as an apple, the classification seems to be final. It is neither necessary nor possible to see it as red. Understanding that an object can be two things at the same time calls for a major cognitive leap forward.
Potential new diagnostic test and treatment for lung cancer
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University of York spinout company, Cizzle Biotechnology, has secured venture capital funding from the White Rose Technology Seedcorn Fund to continue its development of a potential new diagnostic test and treatment for lung cancer.
The finance will enable Cizzle to progress its research into a potential new method of diagnosing and treating lung cancer, based on the discovery of the role that the protein Ciz 1 appears to play in triggering DNA replication and cell growth. As cancer is associated with abnormal cell growth, the Cizzle team ultimately hope to confirm that blocking the actions of this protein will prevent tumours from occurring or slow down the growth of existing tumours.
A new diagnostic tool for prostate cancer
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According to the World Health Organization there are about 250,000 new cases of prostate cancer every year but, when caught in time, the disease has a cure rate of over 90%.
The problem is that the current methods of disease testing are still associated with too many misdiagnoses. Now however, research by Portuguese and Norwegian scientists, just published on the journal Clinical Cancer Research describes, not only how whole genome analysis can help to increase the accuracy of patient testing, but also identifies a new molecular marker that “tags” prostate cancers with worse prognoses These results have important implications for the clinical management of patients as they will allow, together with standard methods of cancer analysis, better informed therapeutic measures.
Prostate cancer results from abnormal uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, which is a doughnut-shaped gland in the male reproductive system responsible for the fluid that carries the sperm during ejaculation. The disease is strongly related to the Western lifestyle and affects mostly males over the age of 65, while rarely occurring before 40 years of age.
Mechanics of atherosclerosis
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Atherosclerotic narrowing and hardening of coronary arteries typically appear first at vessel branches, and a study in the October issue of Cellular Signalling reports that the type of mechanical stretching found at those branches activates a cellular protein known to damage cells.
The report is the first to link mechanical forces with structural and biochemical changes in blood vessel cells that could explain why atherosclerotic lesions form preferentially at branches of coronary arteries.
The findings, which are currently available online at the journal’s Website, were reported by a team of scientists at the University of California, San Diego as part of an ongoing effort to understand how mechanical forces affect the health of cells that line arteries.
Girls tread a fine line between friendship and bullying
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Girls’ peer relationships often tread a fine line between protective and aggressive or bullying behaviours when it comes to preserving friendships, a University of South Australia study shows.
Friendships and peer relations are very important to girls and many have the social intelligence to manipulate and use these friendships to their own advantage, sometimes using unfriendly and excluding behaviours, according to Dr Barbara Spears from UniSA’s School of Education.
Dr Spears has been undertaking research to explore girls’ understanding of their friendships and peer relationships, and the tension between the friendship and aggressive and bullying behaviours.
Program eases stress for parents of preemies
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An early-intervention program can significantly reduce parents’ stress after the birth of a preterm infant, according to a study conducted by researchers in Norway.
“Mothers and fathers of preterm infants experience a sustained increase in parenting stress,” Dr. Per Ivar Kaaresen from the University of Tromso told Reuters Health.
Kaaresen and colleagues evaluated the impact of an intervention program by randomly assigning 146 parents of preterm infants to the program or to a comparison ‘control’ group.
Leg length linked to heart disease risk
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Having longer legs may put you at lower risk of heart disease, new findings show.
In an analyses of data from 12,254 men and women aged 44 to 65, Dr. Kate Tilling of the University of Bristol in the UK and colleagues found a direct association between leg length and intimal-medial thickness (IMT), a measurement of the thickness of blood vessel walls used to detect the early stages of atherosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.
The longer a person’s legs, they found, the thinner their carotid artery walls were, indicating less buildup of deposits within these blood vessels and a lower risk of heart disease and stroke.
Celebrities and TV fuel cosmetic surgery rise
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Celebrity obsession and television makeover shows are fuelling a rise in cosmetic surgery in Britain, researchers said on Thursday.
Bigger breasts, wrinkle-free skin and face-lifts are top of people’s wish lists, according to a report by market research firm Mintel.
Nearly 700,000 procedures will be carried out this year, a rise of 40 percent on 2005, driven in part by changing public attitudes towards cosmetic surgery, the report said.
Heart failure may run in family, study hints
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The children of parents with heart failure have an increased likelihood of developing the condition themselves, new findings from the Framingham Offspring Study suggest.
“If our findings are confirmed, there would be added justification for adding heart failure to the list of conditions that one can inquire about when obtaining family history of medical disorders from patients,” Dr. Vasan S. Ramachandran told Reuters Health.
Ramachandran, from Boston University School of Medicine, and colleagues investigated whether a parental history of heart failure increased the risk of impaired function of the left ventricle of the heart—its main pumping chamber—or overt heart failure in the offspring, using data from study participants.
Surviving Chinese twin improves after separation
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The surviving Chinese twin of 11-month-old conjoined girls separated last week is growing stronger but still in intensive care, state media reported Thursday.
Chen Jingni was under the supervision of 20 doctors and nurses and was now able to breath on her own and should soon be drinking sugar water, the China Daily said.
“Helping her digestive system regain function is currently the most important issue,” Wang Yi, an official at the hospital caring for the twins, told the paper.
Indonesia doctor urges fast bird flu test in humans
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A rapid test for bird flu infections in humans is key for existing treatments to be more effective, a doctor from a hospital in the Indonesian capital treating patients with the disease said on Thursday.
Santoso Soeroso, director of Sulianti Saroso hospital for infectious diseases, said the average time it took for patients with the disease to get to his hospital was 5.7 days.
Tamiflu, a drug made by Swiss giant Roche AG, which has been used successfully to treat some patients, rapidly loses its effectiveness if not used in early stages of the disease.
Amsterdam clinic offers gamers path back to reality
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Addiction expert Keith Bakker hopes the serenity of a 16th century townhouse on one of Amsterdam’s canals will coax those snared in the fantasy world of online games back to reality.
The townhouse, where sunlight warms the honey-colored wood of the centuries-old floors, houses Europe’s first clinic for people hooked on playing online games.
It is run by addiction consultants Smith & Jones, who felt there was a need for treatment even though experts are still debating whether excessive game playing is an addiction.
Key deficiencies found in brains of people with autism
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In a pair of groundbreaking studies, brain scientists at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh have discovered that the anatomical differences that characterize the brains of people with autism are related to the way those brains process information.
Previous studies have demonstrated a lower degree of synchronization among activated brain areas in people with autism, as well as smaller size of the corpus callosum, the white matter that acts as cables to wire the parts of the brain together. This latest research shows for the first time that the abnormality in synchronization is related to the abnormality in the cabling. The results suggest that the connectivity among brain areas is among the central problems in autism. The researchers have also found that people with autism rely heavily on the parts of the brain that deal with imagery, even when completing tasks that would not normally call for visualization.
Growing old with a partner a healthier option
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According to new research from Denmark older people who live alone are twice as likely to suffer serious heart disease than those who live with a partner.
Kirsten Nielsen, of Aarhus Sygehus University Hospital, in a three-year study of 138,000 people aged between 30 and 69 found that two of the strongest indicators for acute coronary syndrome, which includes severe angina, heart attacks and sudden cardiac death, are age and living alone.
The researchers found that heart disease was diagnosed in 646 people during that period and it was evident that though a poor education and living on a pension were associated with an increased risk of the syndrome, age and living alone were the main predictive factors.
Practice builds brain connections for babies learning language, how to speak
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Experience, as the old saying goes, is the best teacher. And experience seems to play an important early role in how infants learn to understand and produce language.
Using new technology that measures the magnetic field generated by the activation of neurons in the brain, researchers tracked what appears to be a link between the listening and speaking areas of the brain in newborn, 6-month-old and one-year-old infants, before infants can speak.
The study, which appears in this month’s issue of the journal NeuroReport, shows that Broca’s area, located in the front of the left hemisphere of the brain, is gradually activated during an infant’s initial year of life, according to Toshiaki Imada, lead author of the paper and a research professor at the University of Washington’s Institute for Brain and Learning Sciences.
